[Congressional Record Volume 160, Number 130 (Thursday, September 11, 2014)]
[Senate]
[Pages S5565-S5566]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                         SUBMITTED RESOLUTIONS

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SENATE RESOLUTION 542--SUPPORTING THE GOALS AND IDEALS OF NATIONAL SAVE 
FOR RETIREMENT WEEK, INCLUDING RAISING PUBLIC AWARENESS OF THE VARIOUS 
  TAX-PREFERRED RETIREMENT VEHICLES AND INCREASING PERSONAL FINANCIAL 
                                LITERACY

  Mr. CARDIN (for himself and Mr. Enzi) submitted the following 
resolution; which was considered and agreed to:

                              S. Res. 542

       Whereas people in the United States are living longer, and 
     the cost of retirement is increasing significantly;
       Whereas Social Security remains the bedrock of retirement 
     income for the great majority of the people of the United 
     States but was never intended by Congress to be the sole 
     source of retirement income for families;
       Whereas recent data from the Employee Benefit Research 
     Institute indicates that, in the United States, only 
     approximately \3/5\ of workers or their spouses are saving 
     for retirement, and the amount that workers have saved for 
     retirement is much less than the amount they need to 
     adequately fund their retirement years;
       Whereas the financial literacy of workers in the United 
     States is important to their understanding of the need to 
     save for retirement;
       Whereas saving for retirement is a key component of overall 
     financial health and security during retirement years, and 
     the importance of financial literacy in planning for 
     retirement must be advocated;
       Whereas many workers may not be aware of their options in 
     saving for retirement or may not have focused on the 
     importance of, and need for, saving for retirement;
       Whereas, although many employees have access through their 
     employers to defined benefit and defined contribution plans 
     to assist them in preparing for retirement, many of those 
     employees may not be taking advantage of those plans at all 
     or to the full extent allowed by Federal law;
       Whereas saving for retirement is necessary even during 
     economic downturns or market declines, which makes continued 
     contributions all the more important;
       Whereas all workers, including public and private sector 
     employees, employees of tax-exempt organizations, and self-
     employed individuals, can benefit from developing personal 
     budgets and financial plans that include retirement savings 
     strategies that take advantage of tax-preferred retirement 
     savings vehicles; and
       Whereas the week of October 19 through October 25, 2014 has 
     been designated as ``National Save for Retirement Week'': 
     Now, therefore, be it
       Resolved, That the Senate--
       (1) supports the goals and ideals of National Save for 
     Retirement Week, including raising public awareness of the 
     importance of saving adequately for retirement;
       (2) acknowledges the need to raise public awareness of a 
     variety of ways to save for retirement that are favored under 
     the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 which are utilized by many 
     people in the United States but could be utilized by more; 
     and

[[Page S5566]]

       (3) calls on States, localities, schools, universities, 
     nonprofit organizations, businesses, other entities, and the 
     people of the United States to observe National Save for 
     Retirement Week with appropriate programs and activities, 
     with the goal of increasing the retirement savings and 
     personal financial literacy of all people in the United 
     States.

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